Method for cooking hamburger patties

ABSTRACT

Hamburger patties are rapidly cooked with reduced shrinkage in a water base cooking liquid. A cooking appliance is provided having a plurality of parallel spaced heat transfer fins. An array of projecting cooking grills on which the hamburger patty is impaled are thermally connected to said heat transfer fins. This composite cooking appliance is introduced into a water base liquid heating medium so that heat is transferred through the fins and projecting grills to the interior of the hamburger patty. In this way cooking is accomplished in a relatively short period of time, and the amount of fat and meat juices that are melted or boiled away is reduced. An ejector is adapted to fit between the projecting cooking grills in order to remove the food patty after cooking is completed.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 909,795, filedMay 26, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,258, which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 719,585, filed Sept. 1, 1976, now abandoned, whichwas a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 446,951, filed Feb.28, 1974, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,847, which was a continuation-in-partof patent application Ser. No. 190,254, filed Oct. 18, 1971, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for cooking food products suchas hamburger patties. More particularly, the method of the inventionpertains to rapidly and efficiently cooking such products in fast foodservice restaurants.

Depending on how they are cooked, hamburgers are a delicious, succulentfood, and as a result, many restaurants all across the countryspecialize in serving this singular menu item. It is well known that theingredients which contribute to the unique taste of hamburger are thefats and meat juices. Beef tallow, however, has a relatively lowsolidification point within the range of 88°-100° F. and, therefore,hamburgers are preferably formed into relatively thick patties andcooked at relatively low temperatures to prevent the tasty fats and meatjuices from being melted or boiled away. Nonetheless, for reasonsexplained more fully hereinafter, fast food restaurants have found itcommercially expedient to use relatively thin patties and cook them atrelatively high temperatures in order to reduce the preparation time.

At the present time there are a wide variety of fast food restaurantswhich sell hamburgers and similar food items. Necessary to the successof such fast food operations is the ability to rapidly cook, garnish andserve hamburgers. It has become an accepted practice in the fast foodindustry to roll or press hamburgers into relatively thin patties,usually less than 1/4", in order to decrease the amount of timenecessary to cook them thoroughly. In particular, it has been found thatby reducing the thickness of the hamburger patties, the distance theheat must travel through each patty is reduced, thereby reducing theamount of time necessary to cook the meat.

Though tastes differ, it has been found that the interior of a 1/4 lb.hamburger patty must be heated to a temperature of 140° to 170°, whichtemperature must be sustained for 25 seconds before the patty isconsidered sufficiently done. To rapidly achieve this interiortemperature, the exterior surfaces of the hamburger patty are subjectedto relatively high temperatures, generally between 325° and 600° F. Forexample, by conventional means it will take 150 seconds to cook a 1.6oz. hamburger. The large majority of this time, 125 seconds, is used toheat the patty up to the flavor cooking temperature range (140° to 170°F.). The remaining 25 seconds actually cooks the interior of the patty.Establishments which cook hamburgers in this manner sometimes utilize anopen griddle which is operated by at least one attendant. As such,relatively large amounts of heat energy and a relatively large amount ofmanpower is required to prepare hamburgers in this manner.

During cooking on an open grill there is a tendency for the hamburgerpatty to crawl together, shrink in diameter, and become thick in thecenter. This not only creates an undesirable appearance, it also createscooking problems because the increased thickness requires highertemperatures, longer cooking time, or both. Increasing the cookingconditions tends to reduce the amount of fat and juices in the patty sothat there is not only a weight loss, but the product also tends to havea dry taste.

A popular alternative to the grill method of preparing hamburgers is theuse of a boiler having heating elements inside a cabinet or hotbox. Achain conveyor carries the hamburger patties through the hotbox, and byadjusting the speed of the conveyor, the thickness of the hamburgerpatties, and the temperature of the heating elements, the hamburgerpatties can be rapidly cooked to the desired temperatures with minimalsupervision. The temperatures of the heaters used in hotboxes of thetype described varies between 350° F. and 700° F., but since the heaterscan be disposed above and below the chain conveyor, the hamburger can beheated on both sides simultaneously, or consecutively. As a result,hamburgers are cooked by the broiler method in approximately half of thetime normally required by the grill method, and with a minimal amount ofmanpower.

Though the broiler method of cooking hamburgers is successfully used infast food restaurant operations, it is also subject to numerousdrawbacks. There are a number of variable conditions in the broilerwhich as a practicable matter must remain fixed; namely, speed of theconveyor and the temperatures of the heaters; and this hasdisadvantages. For example, it is commercially impractical to cookhamburgers of both thin (1/4 inch) and thick (3/4 inch) sizes by thebroiler method because that necessitates changing cooking conditionswhich is impractical.

Most importantly, both the grill method and the broiler method ofcooking hamburgers rely on the relatively slow process of heatconduction through the hamburger patty itself. Thus, while one must waitfor the interior of the hamburger patty to reach the flavor cookingtemperature range (140°-170° F.), the exterior portions are beingdirectly exposed to relatively high temperatures for up to 150 seconds.During this period of time, the fats and meat juices located near themore exterior portions of the hamburger patty are melted or boiled away,causing a noticeable loss of taste. In addition, a substantial amount ofshrinkage results, a factor of increasing importance in an era ofburgeoning meat prices.

For all these reasons, the hamburger prepared in fast food operations isoften characterized by relatively thin, shriveled patties having a blandtaste. In contrast to the hamburgers prepared in fast food restaurants,the hamburgers prepared in the home, where high speed preparation is notof the essence, are often thicker, juicier, and tastier. The primaryreason for this difference is that hamburgers prepared at home can becooked slowly at lower temperatures. The relatively long period of timerequired to produce such a product is wholly impractical for fast foodoperations, and therefore, compromise in taste and thickness must bemade.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide animproved method and apparatus for rapid, efficient, and economicalheating of food products, such as hamburger patties, as may be preformedin fast food service restaurants.

It is another object of this invention to provide a relatively compact,automated appliance for promoting the rapid cooking of food products ofthe type normally shaped into patties.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a mobile appliancefor impaling and holding a quantity of food, and carrying said quantityfo food through a broiler.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a method andapparatus for rapidly cooking proteinaceous food, particularlyhamburgers, with a minimal amount of heat energy and at a minimaltemperature.

A still further object of this invention is to provide improved meansfor rapidly, and substantially uniformly, transferring heat throughoutthe interior of a quantity of food, particularly hamburgers.

Still another object of this invention is to provide improved means forrapidly cooking a relatively thick hamburger patty with a minimal amountof heat energy.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an appliance,having a plurality of projecting grills extending therefrom, forimpaling and holding a quantity of proteinaceous food, and carrying saidquantity of food through a broiler, and passing heat substantiallyuniformly from the broiler, through the projecting grills, to theinterior of the food impaled and held thereon.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved methodand apparatus for removing a quantity of food impaled and held on anappliance.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved methodand apparatus for engaging and disengaging a hot appliance, having aplurality of projection extending therefrom, used for impaling andholding a quantity of food.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved methodfor cooking a proteinaceous food patty, particularly hamburgers byrapidly bringing the interior of such patty rapidly to cookingtemperatures in the range from 140° F. to 170° F.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved methodfor carrying food through a broiler.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved methodfor rapidly cooking a quantity of proteinaceous food.

Still another object of this invention is to interiorily place allheated surfaces to entrap virtually all cooking heat and odors, thusreducing heating energy required in the cooking process by more than75%.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to this invention there is provided a method for heating afood article having a plurality of spaced heat transfer fins which arethermally connected through a movable mounting means to a plurality ofprojecting grills which are insertable into the food. The movablemounting means according to one embodiment is a continuous conveyor, butin another embodiment of the present invention is a reciprocable frame.A heating medium is provided which, through the fins and the grillmeans, heats the patty evenly and at a relatively low temperature.Finally, ejection means which fit between the grill means remove thepatty from the grill means following the cooking operation.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of theinvention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself,however, together with further objects and attendant advantages thereof,will be best understood by reference to the following description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the appliance;

FIG. 1a is a side view of the geneva mechanism which drives the conveyorwheel;

FIG. 2 is a cutaway side view of the appliance in the position where onepatty is about to be pressed onto the grill array and a cooked patty isabout to be ejected;

FIG. 2a is a cutaway side view of the appliance in the position whereone patty has just been pressed onto a grill array while a cooked pattyhas just been ejected;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the conveyor wheel taken along lines 3--3of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the drive mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a cutaway perspective view of the conveyor wheel showing onegrill array;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the placer taken along lines 6--6 of FIG.2a;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the presser taken along lines 7--7 of FIG.2a;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the brander taken along line 8--8 of FIG.2a;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the ejector taken along lines 9--9 of FIG.2;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a conveyor wheel of the dry embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a second embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the second embodiment taken along lines12--12 of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the second embodiment taken along lines13--13 of FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The method of the invention permits the rapid cooking of thick, tastyhamburgers, of the type capable of being prepared in the home, with aminimal amount of heat energy, shrinkage, and manpower. Briefly stated,a food patty is pressed onto projecting grill means so that the grillmeans substantially penetrate the patty while retaining the desiredpatty shape. The grill means are then heated through the heat transferfins so that the food patty is cooked evenly throughout its thickness.After the patty has been subjected to a sufficient amount of heat, thepatty is removed from the grill means.

The appliance of the invention is mobile, easily handled, and readilypassed through a cooking environment so as to cook the hamburger pattywith minimal manpower. As a result, a hamburger patty can be heated todesired temperatures in much less time than is required by conventionalmeans. Alternatively, a hamburger of much greater thickness, includingthose up to 3/4 inches thick, can be cooked in less time than it takesto cook a 1/4 inch hamburger patty by conventional methods. In eithersituation, the exterior portions of the patty will not be subjected to arelatively large amount of heat for a relatively long period of time,thereby reducing the amount of fat and meat juices that are ordinarilymelted or boiled away. This, in turn, greatly reduces the amount ofshrinkage. Additionally, less heat energy will be required to cook thesame amount of hamburger meat. The apparatus and method of the inventionare thus capable of producing a thicker, tastier hamburger in reducedtime, while simultaneously providing great savings in both meat andenergy.

Referring now to the figures, an appliance 10, described in greaterdetail hereinafter, carries a quantity of food to be heated through acooking medium. Appliance 10 is specifically adapted to carry hamburgerpatties, though it can hold a wide variety of food items. In that formof the invention chosen for purposes of illustration in the drawings,the continuous conveyor is depicted as a circular wheel 12. The wheel 12carries a portion of food through the various stations of the appliance.At the first station is a placer 14 which deposits the patty on a grillarray 16 which is made up of micro grills, after which the patty 18 ispressed onto the grill array by press 20. A brander 22 is shown in thedrawings which has the function of imparting char marks to the patty.This station is optional and may be omitted entirely. The patty is thencarried through the heating medium which here is shown as hot grease 24.After the wheel 12 removes the cooked patty 18 from the heating medium,the patty is ejected from the grill array 16 by ejector means 26.

The conveyor wheel 12, shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 is fixed torotatable shaft 28. Parallel spaced heat transfer fins 30 which aremounted on the inner periphery of wheel 12 can be best seen in FIGS. 3and 5.

Projecting grill means 16 mounted on the outer periphery of wheel 12 arein the form of grill arrays and, in the depicted appliance, are ofsubstantially uniform cross section. They are ordinarily ofsubstantially rectangular configuration, as depicted, and should bespaced between 1/4" and 1/8" apart. As seen in FIG. 5 the grill arraystake the general configuration of the patties to be impaled therein.

The fins 30 are preferably connected to the micro grills 16 or, as shownin the drawings, comprise a single piece of material. Heat conductivematerial such as aluminum is used so that substantial amounts of heatwhich are presented to the fins 30 are transmitted through the microgrills 16 to the interior of the patty. Heat conductive washers 32 alongwith bolts 34 and axial ring 35 retain the proper position of the finsin wheel 12.

The placer 14 is a substantially horizontal reciprocable platformcomprised at least partially of ribs 50 which fit between the microgrills 16. In the appliance depicted in FIG. 4, the vertical position ofthe placer is regulated by placer cam 36 which is mounted for rotationwith drive shaft 38. Placer cam follower 40 is a conventional rollerfollower and is biased toward cam 36 by spring 42. The placer 14 in FIG.1 is shown in an intermediate position below the dispenser 44 which isof conventional design. The Hollymatic 200 Food Forming Machine has beenfound to be suitable for use with the present apparatus. The placer 14ascends from its depicted position to accept a patty 18 from dispenser44 and at the appropriate time descends to a point between the microgrills 16 so that the patty is left on the top of the grills. After therotation of the conveyor wheel 12 removes the grill from between theribs 50 of the placer 14, which grills now carry the patty 18, theplacer ascends to its initial position to receive the next patty.

The press 20, shown in cross section in FIG. 7 compresses the patty ontothe grill array so that the grills penetrate the patty transversely fromthe one side to at least about adjacent the opposite side of the pattywhile retaining the desired shape of the patty 18. After the patty hasbeen pressed onto the grills, the presser moves upward to its originalposition. The vertical reciprocation of the press in the illustratedappliance is provided by rocker plate 52, which will be described indetail hereinafter.

Brander 22, shown in detail in FIG. 8, is used to impart desired charpattern to the upper surface of the patty. This pattern may be in theform of parallel grid marks as in the illustrated apparatus so that thefinished product would look as if it had been cooked on an open grill.Alternatively, the retailer's logo may be imprinted on the patty. Aswith the press, the brander 22 is reciprocated by the rocker plate 52 towhich it is mounted. Brander calrods 54 are imbedded in the brander as aheat source. Alternately, the entire surface may be charred to thedegree desired for flavor enhancement or cosmetic appeal by use of aheated disc.

The conveyor wheel 12 is immersed in reservoir 56 containing hot fluidmedium 24. The fluid cooking medium may be a liquid, such as a cookingoil, for instance, beef tallow, or a water base cooking liquid. A liquidcooking medium is preferred, and a water base cooking medium is mostdesirable. The reservoir 56 may be a simple tub as illustrated withheating elements 58 therein or may have circulation lines leading to andfrom a heat exchanger. A temperature range of between about 160° and220° has been found suitable. In the case of a water base cookingmedium, the temperatures may range from about 160° F. to 210° F. forrapid, even cooking and which results in minimal loss to the hamburger.

Patty remover or ejector 26 can be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 9 and isadapted to be associated with the conveyor wheel 12 and the micro grills16, while being independently mounted on rocker plate 52 forreciprocation. The ejector 26 has parallel ribs 60 which fit between themicro grills 16. As seen in the drawings, the ejector ribs 60 fit belowthe level of the micro grills. In this lowered position, shown in FIGS.2 and 9, the conveyor wheel 12 carries a grill array with a pattyimpaled thereon into position above the ejector ribs 60. At this pointthe ejector ascends to cleanly remove the patty from the grill array.Chute 62 is provided to remove the cooked patties.

The appliance 10 of the present invention may be driven by anyconventional means. In the appliance illustrated in FIG. 4 drive shaft38 is belt driven by motor 64. As mentioned above, placer can 36 mountedon drive shaft 38 regulates the reciprocation of placer 14 throughplacer follower 40. The conveyor wheel 12 is rotated by drive shaft 38through a geneva mechanism. Geneva wheel 66 is mounted co-axially withthe conveyor wheel on rotatable shaft 28. The geneva cam 68 and drivepin 70 are mounted on drive shaft 38 and mate with and drive the genevawheel 66.

In the illustrated apparatus the geneva cam 68 and drive pin 70 areadjacent rocker plate cam 72. Through appropriate linkage this camcontrols the motion of rocker plate 52. Follower 75 biased by spring 76transmits reciprocatory motion through rocker arm 78 to pin 80 which ismounted to rocker plate 52 at some non-central point. This causes therocker plate to move on fulcrum 82. Through this rocking motion theejector 26, press 20 and brander 22 reciprocate radially with respect toconveyor wheel 12.

The operation of appliance 10 is fairly easy to understand. The placer14 receives a patty 18 from dispenser 44. As drive shaft 38 rotates,placer cam 36 causes placer 14 to descend so that placer ribs 50 areslightly below the upper end of micro grills 16. As the drive shaftrotates the conveyor wheel 12 through the geneva mechanism, the grillarray and patty carried thereon move away from the placer ribs 50. Atthis point the placer ascends to accept the next patty. With the press20 in the raised position shown in FIG. 2 the grill array and patty moveunder the press at which time the press pushes the patty onto the grillarray. The press and brander 22 are then raised through rocker plate 52motion so that the patty which is not impaled on the grill array movesinto position below the brander 22. The rocker plate then lowers thebrander to the position shown in FIG. 2a, and the desired char isaffixed before it is raised.

The conveyor wheel 12 then carries the impaled patty into the reservoirfor the cooking medium where it is cooked. The cooking time is directlyrelated to the speed of the conveyor wheel so speed control 84 isprovided to vary cooking time. Temperature control 86 regulates thetemperature of cooking medium 24 through heating elements 58.

Heat from the heat transfer or cooking medium 24 passes through fins 30to the micro grills 16 which cook the patty internally. Normally thefins will have approximately at least 20% more surface area than themicro grills so this creates a heat funnel action thus insuringtemperature maintenance within the grill array.

While FIGS. 2 and 2a show heat transfer fins 30 to be removed from thehot cooking medium at the top of the conveyor wheel, an alternateembodiment is designed so that the fins 30 will always be in contactwith the heating medium, for example, in the illustrated apparatus thefins will remain immersed in the cooking medium so to prevent anypossible cooling of the fins therefore maximizing efficiency.

The heat transfer or cooking medium also heats the outer surface of thepatty with which it is in contact. Furthermore, the cooking medium alsotransfers heat to the exposed ends of the micro grills which mayprotrude through the outer surface of the patty. Accordingly, it can beseen that this heating of the outer part of the grills and the pattyimpaled thereon insures an even heating throughout the thickness of thepatty.

As discussed hereinabove, the flavor cooking temperature range, or thetemperature at which the inner part of a hamburger patty is actuallycooking, is between 140° and 170° F. In a 1/4 lb. hamburger of standardthickness this range is reached within 5 seconds. This temperature mustbe maintained for approximately 25 seconds so the conveyor wheel speedwould normally be set so that each patty is submerged in the cookingmedium for 30 seconds. This setting would naturally be adjusted if thetemperature of the cooking medium and/or the size of the patty werevaried.

After the conveyor wheel removes the cooked patty from the cookingmedium, the patty passes above the ejector 22 which is in the loweredposition shown in FIG. 2. The rocker plate 52 then raises the ejector tothe position of FIG. 2a and the cooked patty is removed via chute 62.

Another embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 10. Mostof the apparatus is the same as that previously described, the primarydifference being the heating medium. In this embodiment heat is impartedto heat transfer fins 30 by calrods 88 mounted on the inner periphery ofthe conveyor wheel 12. These heating elements may be stationary asillustrated with a sliding but thermally efficient connection betweenthe elements and the fins 30, or may rotate with the conveyor wheel 12with conventional slip rings (not shown) to provide electricity to theelements. In this so-called "dry" embodiment another set of heatingelements may be positioned on the outside periphery of the conveyorwheel to insure the even cooking of the patties impaled on the grillmeans. These outer heating elements (not shown) would ordinarily bestationary.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 11,12 and 13. This appliance 90 operates on the same principle as the firstembodiment, i.e., a plurality of projecting grill means are set in amovable mounting means, which mounting means carries the grill means ormicro grills and the patty impaled thereon into the heating medium. Inthis appliance 90, the movable mounting means is a reciprocable frame 92which is reciprocated through a cam and rocker arrangement showngenerally at 94. The micro grills are reciprocable with respect to thereciprocable frame as well as with respect to the stationary housing.Heat transfer fins 30 may also be carried by the frame 92. Flow slots 95are provided in frame 92 so that the hot grease 24 has access to thefins 30. Above the frame, secured thereto, is an ejector, here a plate96, through which the micro grills 16 fit. By moving the micro grillswith respect to this plate the grills can be either inserted orretracted from the patty.

A movable cover 98, including a lid 100 is provided on the top of theappliance, with the cover 98 sliding in groove 102. Track 104 with anangularly displaced portion 106 mounts rollers 108 which are rotatablyheld by an extension of lid 100. The lid is spring biased toward the endof cover 98 so that its normal idle position is that in FIG. 11. The lidis of a configuration which allows it to fit under the cover so that bysliding the cover all the way to the right in the illustrated appliance,the rollers 108 move down track 104 to cause the lid 100 to seatsecurely on the appliance.

A frame cam 110 and a micro grill cam 112 rotate on the same axis andare driven by motor 113. The design of these cams is conventional sowill not be dealt with in detail. Individual rockers 114 and 116 havingconventional followers 118 and 120 and a common fulcrum 115 transfer therotating eccentric motion into reciprocation of the frame 92 and themicro grills 16 via frame rod 117 and grill rod 119. In the depictedappliance the grill rod is interposed within the frame rod. Thereciprocating parts of this appliance are situated in reservoir 56 whichcontains a hot cooking liquid, ordinarily grease 24. The grease 24 isheated by u-shaped heating element 121. Liquid seal 122 is provided toprevent leakage.

Heat transfer fins 30 mounted in the frame 92 are thermally connected tothe micro grills 16 and therefore increase the amount of heat which istransferred to the grills, as with the first embodiment of the presentinvention. It is preferable that each grill and fin be one piece ofmaterial as shown. In this second embodiment the fins preferably remainimmersed in the cooking medium at all times so to minimize heat loss.

In the cooking operation, the raw patty 18 is placed above frame 92.Cover 98 is then moved to the right so that the lid 100 is suspendedover the patty. As the cover 98 continues in its path to the right thelid extension rollers 108 slide down the cover track 104 so that the lid100 is tightly positioned over the frame as shown in FIG. 12.

Through grill cam 112 and rocker 116 the grills 16 move upward into thepatty which is held in place by lid 100. This position is shown in FIG.13. The frame 92, plate 96, and extended grills 16 then move downward asa unit into the cooking medium 24. After the patty has been sufficientlycooked, these same elements move upward as a unit to just below theoriginal position. At this point the grills stop moving upward. Theframe 92 and the ejection plate 96 carried therein continue their upwardmovement, so the relative movement therebetween causes retraction of thegrills. The ejection plate 96 holds the patty above the frame 92 so thegrills are cleanly removed. When the frame has reached its initialposition, the cover/lid unit is slid away and the cooked patty removed.

Of course, it should be understood that various changes andmodifications to the preferred embodiments described herein will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications canbe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is,therefore, intended that such changes and modifications be covered bythe following claims.

1. A method for rapidly cooking a hamburger patty in a water basecooking liquid, the steps comprising:providing a first zone forperforming operations on a hamburger patty; providing a second zonecontaining a liquid cooking medium; said liquid cooking mediumconsisting essentially of a water base liquid; heating said liquidcooking medium to a temperature in the range from about 160° F. to about210° F.; inserting into a hamburger patty in said first zone a pluralityof heat conductive grill means of a sufficient number and spaced withsufficient proximities to facilitate rapid cooking of said hamburgerpatty; said plurality of grill means provided with heat transfer fins;said grill means inserted transversely into said hamburger patty andsubstantially penetrating said patty, with heat conductive areas of saidheat transfer fins remaining in heat conductive relationship with theexterior of said hamburger patty; conveying said grill means, and saidheat transfer fins, with said hamburger patty impaled thereon andimmersing the same in said liquid cooking medium in said second zone;maintaining said heat transfer fins and said grill means with saidhamburger patty impaled thereon in said liquid cooking medium for a timesufficient to cook portions exterior and interior to said hamburgerpatty; conveying said grill means with said hamburger patty out of saidliquid cooking medium; and
 2. The method of claim 1 in which asufficient number of grill means are inserted and arranged in thehamburger patty so that they are spaced apart
 3. A method for cooking ahamburger patty in a water base cooking liquid, which is adapted to cooka thick hamburger patty rapidly, economically, and efficiently, thesteps comprising:providing a hamburger patty; providing a water basecooking liquid; heating said water base cooking liquid to a temperatureof at least about 160° F.; impaling said hamburger patty with aplurality of heat conductive grill means of a sufficient number andarranged with sufficient proximities to facilitate rapid cooking of saidhamburger patty; said grill means thermally connected to heat transferfins which have areas that communicate with the environment exterior tosaid hamburger patty; rapidly bringing the interior portions of saidhamburger patty to cooking temperatures in the range from about 140° F.to about 170° F., including conveying and submerging said grill means,and said heat transfer fins, with said hamburger patty impaled thereon,into said heated water base cooking liquid; maintaining said heattransfer fins and grill means with said hamburger patty impaled thereonin said water base cooking liquid for a time sufficient to cook portionsexterior and interior to said hamburger patty; conveying said grillmeans with said hamburger patty out of said liquid cooking medium; and4. The method of claim 3 in which a sufficient number of grill means areinserted and arranged in the hamburger patty so that they are spacedapart
 5. A method for rapidly cooking a hamburger patty in a water basecooking liquid, the steps comprising:providing a first zone forperforming operations on a hamburger patty; providing a second zonecontaining a liquid cooking medium; said liquid cooking mediumconsisting essentially of a water base liquid; heating said liquidcooking medium to a temperature in the range from about 160° F. to about210° F.; inserting into a hamburger patty in said first zone a pluralityof heat conductive grill means of a sufficient number and spaced withsufficient proximities to facilitate rapid cooking of said hamburgerpatty; said plurality of grill means provided with heat transfer fins;said grill means inserted transversely into said hamburger patty andsubstantially penetrating said patty, with heat conductive areas of saidheat transfer fins remaining in heat conductive relationship with theexterior of said hamburger patty; conveying said grill means, and saidheat transfer fins, with said hamburger patty impaled thereon andimmersing the same in said liquid cooking medium in said second zone;maintaining said heat transfer fins and said grill means with saidhamburger patty impaled thereon in said liquid cooking medium for a timesufficient to cook portions exterior and interior to said hamburgerpatty; conveying said grill means with said hamburger patty out of saidliquid cooking medium; and
 6. The method of claim 5 in which asufficient number of grill means are inserted and arranged in thehamburger patty so that they are spaced apart
 7. A method for cooking ahamburger patty in a water base cooking liquid, which is adapted to cooka thick hamburger patty rapidly, economically, and efficiently, thesteps comprising:providing a hamburger patty; providing a water basecooking liquid; heating said water base cooking liquid to a temperatureof at least about 160° F.; impaling said hamburger patty with aplurality of heat conductive grill means of a sufficient number andarranged with sufficient proximities to facilitate rapid cooking of saidhamburger patty; said grill means thermally connected to heat transferfins which have areas that communicate with the environment exterior tosaid hamburger patty; rapidly bringing the interior portions of saidhamburger patty to cooking temperatures in the range from about 140° F.to about 170° F., including conveying and submerging said grill means,and said heat transfer fins, with said hamburger patty impaled thereon,into said heated water base cooking liquid; maintaining said heattransfer fins and grill means with said hamburger patty impaled thereonin said water base cooking liquid for a time sufficient to cook portionsexterior and interior to said hamburger patty; conveying said grillmeans with said hamburger patty out of said liquid cooking medium; and8. The method of claim 7 in which a sufficient number of grill means areinserted and arranged in the hamburger patty so that they are spacedapart between about 1/4 inch and about 1/8 inch.